Nicotine

Nicotine

by Jackie Luong, Alex Yu

• Description: Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants (Solanaceae) that constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco with biosynthesis taking place in the roots and accumulation occurring in the leaves.
• Chemical Make-Up: 

• How it's acquired: acquired through tobacco products --> smoking, chewing tobacco, etc.
• enters body, makes it way through blood stream, and makes it way past the blood-brain barrier within 10-20 seconds of inhalation (smoking)
• Classification: stimulant
• Slang/ street terms: Cigs, smokes, butts, cancer sticks (cigarettes)
• Ways ingested: smoked, chewed, nicotine patch
• Similar drugs with similar effects: Cotinine lasts 10 times longer in the blood [than] nicotine, and other alkaloids, caffeine
• Medicinal Use: benefits of nicotine itself can be compared to caffeine. Nicotine has a lot of therapeutic uses. There's growing evidence that it may be useful in treating Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's - their level of concentration, their ability to focus.
• Psychological effects on the brain (long and short term):
• Short term: When a smoker inhales nicotine from a cigarette, the drug is carried to the brain in highly concentrated form within around 10-15 seconds. The drug then binds to a variety of different types of nicotinic receptors in different parts of the brain, producing psychological and behavioral effects. One of the most important effects is that it stimulates release of dopamine. This effect appears to be experienced as a satisfaction effect, and causes the smoker to want to smoke again in order to experience the effect. Nicotine has effects on other parts of the brain that affect arousal and the ability to focus our attention and concentration. Thus smoking a cigarette can help a smoker to think clearly, in ways that are similar to the effects of caffeine.
• Long Term: Nicotine addiction, the more a person smokes, the more nicotinic receptors grow in his/her brain. Most of these receptors are desensitized when stimulated by nicotine, but when the person stops taking nicotine, more and more of these receptors become sensitized but not activated by nicotine. This leads to effects that are the opposite of the primary effects of nicotine: reduced release of dopamine in the reward center of the brain (experienced as a bad mood), and other effects such as poor concentration and increased appetite caused by lack of the usual nicotine levels in the brain. The smoker needs to smoke more to feel "normal".
•  Psychological effects on the body
  ·         Long term effects:
  o   Nicotine causes cancer the extended period of nicotine usage can increase the risk of cancer. Nicotine causes cell mutations within the body which can lead to cancer, and smokers are more llikely to develop lung cancer.
  o   Pulmonary disease because nicotine is inhaled through the lungs via cigarettes, the lungs can be damaged as a result of regular nicotine use. Nicotine can contribute to pulmonary diseases such as emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
  o   Addiction, nicotine usage can be highly addictive. Because of nicotine’s chemical interation with the brain, it makes peole want to use nicotine more (its’s why cigarette smokers become addicted to nicotine over the years)
  o   Heart attack, nicotine also contains carbon monoxide, which can damage arteries. When arteries are damaged, the risk for heart attack increases.
  o   Stroke, nicotine is a  chemical, it can severelyt alter the brain. Nicotine restricts blood flow to the brain and puts nicotine users at increased risk for stroke.
  o   Skin damage- nicotine can make skin look sallow, yellow and dull. Because of the toxins found in nicotine, the skin is affected by these harmful toxins and can wrinkle and age prematurely.
  ·         Short term effects:
  o   Constricts Blood Vessels & Impairs Breathing
  o   Increase heart rate and blood pressure
  o   Reduction in Urine output
  o   decrease in reflex times
  o   irritation to the airways, causing cough possibly shortness of breath sometimes dizziness
  o   Nicotine narrows the blood vessels and puts added strain on the heart. Smoking also causes shortness of breath and reduces the amount of oxygen that is available for the muscles and other body tissues to use. These changes can limit people’s ability to do the things they want to do. In young people, sports performance can suffer as a result. For example, many smokers cannot run as far or as fast as nonsmokers. Tobacco use also makes people less attractive. It stains teeth and causes bad breath, yellowed fingers, and smelly clothes. In addition, even brief use of smokeless tobacco can cause cracked lips and white spots, sores, and bleeding in the mouth.
• Duration of Psychological and Physiological Effects: Nicotine's effects are short-lived, lasting only 40 minutes to a couple of hours. This leads people to smoke or chew tobacco periodically throughout the day to dose themselves with nicotine.
• Psychological: Nicotine does not causes yellow stains on fingers and teeth. It is the tar in the cigarette that causses the unsightly yellow-brown stains on fingers and teeth.
• Physiological: when people begin smoking they experience nausea, dizziness, headache, stomach upset, coughing and other uncomfortable symptoms.
• Dependence:
• Physical: People who are addicted to something will use it compulsively, without regard for its negative effects on their health or their life. A good example would be someone who continues to smoke, even as they use an oxygen tank to breathe because of the damage smoking has done to their lungs.
• Psychological: Neuroscientists call anything that turns on the reward pathway in the brain addictive. Because stimulating this neural circuitry makes you feel so good, you will continue to do it again and again to get those feelings back.
  • Although most of the nicotine you consume (about 90 percent) is quickly metabolized by your body's liver and then excreted from your kidneys, the remaining amount of nicotine remains in your bloodstream for about six to eight hours after smoking.
• Myth: Nicotine is not an addiction.

• Fact: Nicotine addiction is as real as any other addiction on the books. In fact, some professionals believe that it is one of the most addictive because it is somewhat accepted. It is not illegal, leading some to believe that it must be ok, since it isn’t forbidden.
  Those suffering from nicotine addiction should be taken very seriously. They must have help to stop the cravings, withdrawals and negative effects of this drug on their body. It is true that nicotine is out of the bloodstream within 72 hours from last ingestation, however that doesn’t mean that the cravings stop for another several weeks. Cessation is not easy, but it can be done with commitment, education and the help of others.